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10th Anniversary of The Phantom Menace

Anybody else bothering to watch this movie again?

I've not seen it in awhile so I thought I would give it another look with the upcoming 10th anniversary...there were lots of fun tie-ins to the movie a decade ago, so I've been dripping with nostalgia just thinking about it:

Following spoilers online.
Waiting in line for a midnight toy sale.
Waiting in line for a midnight movie showing.
Eating horribly all summer by ingesting copious amounts of KFC, TB, and PH.
and many other memories...

Anyway, I watched TPM today for the first time in awhile and I enjoyed it. Definitely my overall least favorite of the 6 but it had a lot of good parts to it.

I also went through a lot of the bonus feature segments (many of them for the first time probably since Nov. 2001 when the DVD came out) so it was cool to see some of that again. It was weird to see footage of GLu beginning the rough draft back in Nov. 1994, now THAT was weird to think of it as being almost 15 years ago, and frankly it made me feel OLD.

I don't think I will get to any of the other SW flicks this week but it was cool to revisit TPM for its 10th anniversary.

Oh, and in the words of Mr. Richard McCallum at the end of the "Beginning" documentary, "THIS IS F@&*ING AWESOME."

What do I recall?
- the giddy tingling when the Lucasfilm logo appeared and turned colors, when I and many other cheered (also when R2's name was said, the doors opened to reveal Darth Maul, Qui-Gon killed)
- deciding at 10:30 pm to head the local (now demolished ) TRU for Midnigth Madness and buying the entire Collection 1 (minus the "HTF" Maul), most of Collection 2, and none of the "HTF" 3, soem Lego sets
- seeing it 11 times that summer (by far the most I've seen of any film in theaters)
- trying to find sit-down Pizza Hut restaurants for those toys, and completing the Pepsi/Mountain Dew/Diet Pepsi/Pepsi One Carpy Taste can set

I'll be watching the original VHS of TPM on Tuesday and then going through all the films with the commentary sometime this summer, which I've never done. I've already seen each of the films twice this year, so I can wait a while for that. I might also rewatch some of the documentaries and so on.

I've enjoyed thinking back on the TPM-era fun lately. It's hard to believe that it's been ten years. I have great memories of Celebration, the Hasbro and Lego stuff, the fast food promos, the trailers, and just the general atmosphere. I absolutely loved the film when it came out and so did my friends. I still love it, even though it's probably my least favorite of the six - not because of Jar Jar, or the acting, or any shortcomings that people have harped on for the last decade, but just because it involves so little of the Anakin story. Then again, it does set it up for the rest of the saga and pretty much shone an entirely new light on the films that most people probably didn't expect, so you've got to at least respect it for that. It also has so much other great stuff - Qui-Gon, Watto, Darth Maul, the production design, the action, the podrace, and just a lot of fun. It also has a lot of emotional resonance to other parts of the saga, particularly ROTS.

Hard to believe I was still in college and working a crappy retail job when it came out - has it been that long?!

I'll never forget the atmosphere, going to the (now defunct) Pizza Hut and Comic Attitudes stores near the University for collectibles, comics, and the four PH cup toppers to go with the KFC and Taco Bell ones;

Waiting in line for four hours to get tix to Opening Day, making friends and talking Star wars, making those four hours fly by;

Deciding at about 11:30 to go to my local TRU for midnight madness, thanks to seeing a story at the beginning of the news after having forgotten about it, managing to get everything but the "HTF" single carded Maul (found it at KB's 6 am opening), having to "settle" for the Sith Speeder version, and NOT finding the truly HTF 12" version (of which KB didn't even have available the next morning);

And finally, the musty smell of that rainy morning, waiting one last time in line for the doors to open for the 9 AM showing of the movie (no midnight showing offered that year) with friends, then meeting up less than 12 hours later to see it again with those same friends.

And now I plan on watching it tonight, as I haven't done so in a while, so it's time to pop it into the DVD player again!

It also has a lot of emotional resonance to other parts of the saga, particularly ROTS.

Indeed John, one of the things for me was Qui-Gon's dying words being repeated by Obi-Wan at the end of ROTS...since I hadn't seen TPM in awhile, I kinda forgot about how Obi basically tells Ani what Qui told Obi. I liked that.

I also liked Anakin talking about how he had a dream that he came back and freed all the slaves...Little Ani has these wide-eyed ideas but then when he actually gets into the Order, he gets a taste of the "real world" and how things really work. To make matters worse, when he does actually get a chance to go back and "free slaves", all he gets to do is free the about-to-be-a-corpse of his mother.

Indeed John, one of the things for me was Qui-Gon's dying words being repeated by Obi-Wan at the end of ROTS...since I hadn't seen TPM in awhile, I kinda forgot about how Obi basically tells Ani what Qui told Obi. I liked that.

I also liked Anakin talking about how he had a dream that he came back and freed all the slaves...Little Ani has these wide-eyed ideas but then when he actually gets into the Order, he gets a taste of the "real world" and how things really work. To make matters worse, when he does actually get a chance to go back and "free slaves", all he gets to do is free the about-to-be-a-corpse of his mother.

I gotta tell ya" all this Ep 1 "brings warm feelings to my heart" Yoda to Padme EpII palpy's office. Seriously though, it was a great time, all the excitement made me feel like a kid again. The force was definitely in the air everywhere!

Maybe I'll watch it this week. All my TV shows have ended except for 24 tomorrow night. However, I do have some DVR to catch up on after being gone for a couple days.

I remember looking forward to this movie quite a bit. I recall having a dream long before it came out where I went to the theater, but the experience was ruined because people were being too noisy at one point, and I couldn't stay awake at another point.

I didn't go to a midnight showing. I only did that with ROTS.

I never went to a midnight madness. I didn't start collecting until after the 1999 TPM midnight madness. I recall seeing a story about it on the news of one of the Seattle stations. I thought it was pretty silly. Why not wait and buy it at a regular hour? The week before the movie was released, I finally decided to buy the figures though. At first I was just going to stick with new figures, because I didn't think I'd be able to get all the POTF2 ones I missed. However, thanks to a specialty shop I discovered, as well as Brian's Toys, I was able to fill in a lot of those figures that were no longer in the stores.

I just read the new SW Insider on my return trip today. I was quite in agreement with the Editor's Welcome at the beginning of the issue, particularly this passage:

I absolutely love The Phantom Menace. It's a rich adventure in the finest Star Wars tradition: action-packed, thought-provoking, and filled with wonderful moments that could only happen in this saga. It's surprisingly dark and political in places, and far subtler than some of its harsher critics would give it credit for.

It's still my favorite of the prequels, and almost rivals the OT in my eyes.

I just read the new SW Insider on my return trip today. I was quite in agreement with the Editor's Welcome at the beginning of the issue, particularly this passage:

Be sure to check out the Bantha Tracks section, the story of two SSGers in there!

I went to the midnight showing, and I recall being disappointed. I think I was over hyped that it would be more like the OT, and I was almost 34 years old when it came out, so that may have had something to do with it. Either way, I did not care for Jar Jar at all, on the other hand, I enjoyed the opening sequence with the two Jedi going to negotiate, then they almost get wiped out, instead they open up a whooping on the battle droids, also seeing Qui Gon use his lightsaber to melt away that metal door was cool. I loved the battle with Darth Maul, and wished he could have lived to fight again.

I was just a few years away from owning my own set of Stormtrooper armor, which I did wear to EP II, but that film is only 7 years old.